Details on the Great Griffey Slumber

I wish the title of this post was “the Great Griffey LUMBER.” But that’s certainly not been the case this season. He’s batting .201, slugging .234, and has 0 HRs and 2 doubles. He belongs in AA (or better, retired).

So what happened last week when Ken Griffey Jr. fell asleep in the clubhouse and missed a pinch hitting opportunity?

It was the Saturday, May 8th game versus division rival LA Angels. The Mariners went on to lose the game in the 10th inning 4-3.

Griffey missed his chance in the 8th inning of the tied game. The Mariners had runners on 2nd and 3rd base with 2 outs. Kevin Jepsen (a righty) was pitching, and had already given up a walk and a single.

Rob Johnson was due up at the plate, and with backup catcher Adam Moore available, it was the perfect chance to pinch-hit Junior and then have Moore finish up the game. Griffey batted .500 versus Jepsen in previous matchups. Johnson had never gotten a hit off Jepsen.

Griffey napped and Johnson struck out, ending a great scoring opportunity for the Ms. What would have happened if Griffey was awake and ready to bat? No one knows, and with a .208 batting average, the same result was likely, but Griffey had to have a better chance than the right-handed, .140-batting catcher.

It’s not only unfortunate, it’s unacceptable. If Griffey can’t stay awake for games, it’s time for the Ms to put a player on the roster who can.

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FWIW, here’s what Wakamatsu said after the game about why he did not pinch hit Griffey for Johnson…

“The biggest reason is he lined out the first at-bat and had a base hit. At some point, we can pinch-hit for everybody in this lineup, but somebody is going to have to step up and get a big hit.”